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INDIANAPOLIS — A lot can still happen with so many possibilities, the posturing for the post-season now underway, but there’s a good chance the Raptors and Pacers could well meet in the playoffs.

Toronto and Indiana have never collided in the NBA’s second season, the Raptors never winning a best-of-seven series, while the Pacers had its championship window shut when they couldn’t knock off LeBron James and the Miami Heat, even when Indiana won the East and entered the marquee matchup with home-court advantage.

On paper, a Raptors-Pacers matchup favours Toronto, an edge that increases if DeMarre Carroll is back and completely engaged, in game shape and in tune with his teammates and schemes.

“They play a playoff-style basketball,’’ said Raptors head coach Dwane Casey, whose visits to Indy always involve arranging for extra tickets to cater to his family. “First of all, they are very physical. They pack the paint. You’re not going to play one-on-one to one-on-one and beat this team offensively.

“And defensively you’ve got to get into them, make them feel us. I think the game last time (back in December when the visitors jumped out to a 21-point lead) we started out the game and they felt us, but for whatever reason they flipped the switch and they were into us. We weren’t touching them. We’ve got to play a physical style of basketball game. It’s got to be a move-the-ball game, play on the weak side, get your feet into the paint and then kick it out. A physical, aggressive, inside-outside type of game.”

The playoffs are so much about matchups, the regular season having absolutely no bearing.

A Pacers matchup is a good one for Toronto, but like any series there are no guarantees.

Earlier in the week in Milwaukee, the Raptors played a playoff-style game without three starters in Carroll, who is with the team, DeMar DeRozan (rest) and Jonas Valanciunas (hand).

No disrespect to DeRozan, but ball movement was better as was Toronto’s defence.

Toronto runs a lot of set for DeRozan in isolation because he can either create his own shot or attack the rim and get to the line.

“That tends to slow the game down a little bit,’’ Casey said. “And that’s no negative to DeMar because that’s why he’s an all-star. When the ball goes into the post to Jonas (Valanciunas), the ball slows down. The other night (against the Bucks) the only guy in iso was Kyle (Lowry, who had 20 points at the break).

“The ball has to continue to move (another hallmark of playoff basketball), it’s got to go from A to B to C to D and then attack. That’s the way we have to play. If we play a straight post-up or iso we won’t be successful on offence.”

Having the likes of Luis Scola and Bismack Biyombo available, regardless of whether they start in the post-season, helps.

“His spirit has been so strong,’’ added Casey of Biyombo. “His ability to talk on defence has helped everybody, it’s contagious to our other bigs and Jonas has taken after it. But his presence, his physicality has really helped us. His screening has really helped us. In the past we’ve been a bad screening team and he’s brought some of that to us.”

Blocking shots, diving for loose balls on the floor, Biyombo has given the Raptors all they could possibly want, and then some, the type of player whose presence is magnified in the post-season.

In Charlotte, Biyombo played in three playoff games, but he’s got a lot, an awful lot in fact, to gain this post-season as Biyombo should, and likely will, opt out as the NBA enters a summer of big-time spending with an inflated salary cap on the horizon.

His presence on the floor, inside the locker room, Biyombo has helped improve team chemistry, intangibles no one can measure in any statistical fashion.

The same could be applied to Scola, the epitome of professionalism.

Analytics have become the sporting preoccupation recently, but these numbers geeks can’t measure what Biyombo and Scola mean, their presence to loom even larger late next month.

Casey borrowed a line from one-time Leafs executive Brian Burke.

“Analytics doesn’t measure a guy blocking a puck with his nose,’’ said Casey.

In basketball, Casey loves the soul and heart both Scola and Biyombo bring to the table.

With the Super Sonics, Casey had guys such as Sam Perkins.

“You’ve got to have those old souls as well as the young, youthful athleticism, speed and quickness, but nothing replaces experience (Scola) and guys playing with pure heart.”

Pacers would provide physical challenge for Raptors in playoffs

INDIANAPOLIS — A lot can still happen with so many possibilities, the posturing for the post-season now underway, but there’s a good chance the Raptors and Pacers could well meet in the playoffs.

Toronto and Indiana have never collided in the NBA’s second season, the Raptors never winning a best-of-seven series, while the Pacers had its championship window shut when they couldn’t knock off LeBron James and the Miami Heat, even when Indiana won the East and entered the marquee matchup with home-court advantage.

On paper, a Raptors-Pacers matchup favours Toronto, an edge that increases if DeMarre Carroll is back and completely engaged, in game shape and in tune with his teammates and schemes.

“They play a playoff-style basketball,’’ said Raptors head coach Dwane Casey, whose visits to Indy always involve arranging for extra tickets to cater to his family."